Proxy Authentication Network

1. A system for performing proxy authentication between subscribers in a transaction, comprising: storage providers for maintaining subscriber identities and personal information, wherein for any specific subscriber the identity and personal information is only stored in one location, wherein the specific storage is managed by the specific subscriber; a central authority for authenticating the subscribers, that uses a combination of credentials for subscribers, along with combinations of devices and locations from which individual subscribers are authenticated; an authenticator to authenticate a first subscriber using a first credential and a second subscriber using a second credential; and a receipt generator to generate a receipt that identifies the first subscriber and the second subscriber without providing the personally identifiable information about the first subscriber and the second subscriber and using metadata and pseudo data for authentication so that the central authority does not know the true identities of the subscribers contained in the storage provider facilities.

2. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the authenticator supports out-of-band authentication of the first subscriber and the second subscriber.

3. A system according to claim 2 , further comprising a manual out-of-band authenticator to manually authenticate the first subscriber using the first credential and the second subscriber using the second credential.

4. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising a state setter to change states of the first credential and the second credential.

5. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the state setter is operative to change the state of the first credential to disable the first credential responsive to a request by the first subscriber.

6. A system according to claim 5 , wherein the state setter is operative to change the state of the first credential to enable the first credential responsive to a request by the first subscriber.

7. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the state setter is operative to set the states of the first credential and the second credential to “in use” after the first subscriber and the second subscriber are authenticated by the authenticator.

8. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the state setter is operative to set the states of the first credential and the second credential to “not in use” after the transaction is completed.

9. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the authenticator is operative to verify that the state of the first credential is “not in use” and the state of the second credential is “not in use”.

10. A system according to claim 1 , wherein a first storage provider of the storage providers stores the first personally identifiable information as an encrypted data encrypted using a key.

11. A system according to claim 10 , wherein: the first storage provider stores a first portion of the key; and the server stores a second portion of the key.

12. A system according to claim 11 , wherein a trusted third party stores a third portion of the key, where the trust third party is different from both the first party and the second party.

13. A system according to claim 11 , wherein the first storage provider includes: a receiver to receive at least the second portion of the key from the server; a key assembler to assemble the key from the first portion and the second portion; a decrypter to decrypt the encrypted data; a key generator to generate a new key based on the receipt and on other data; an encrypter to encrypt the decrypted data using the new key; and a transmitter to transmit the encrypted identity and the other data to a requester.

14. A system according to claim 13 , wherein: the receiver is operative to receive a third portion of the key from a trusted third party; and the key assembler is operative to assemble the key from the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion.

15. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the server includes the authenticator and the receipt generator.

16. A system according to claim 11 wherein the storage providers include a storage, the storage including: a data for the first subscriber, the data encrypted using a key; a first portion of the key; a receiver to receive at least a second portion of the key from the server; a key assembler to assemble the key from the first portion and the second portion; a decrypter to decrypt the encrypted data; a key generator to generate a new key based on the receipt and on other data; an encrypter to encrypt the decrypted data using the new key; and a transmitter to transmit the encrypted identity and the other data to a requester.

17. A method for a first subscriber and a second subscriber to perform proxy authentication in a transaction using a server, comprising: registering the first subscriber; registering the second subscriber; storing first personally identifiable information for the first subscriber in a first storage; storing second personally identifiable information for the second subscriber in a second storage; storing combinations of credentials for the first subscriber and the second subscriber on the server; storing combinations of devices and locations from which each of the first subscriber and the second subscriber are authenticated; receiving a first credential from the first subscriber, the first credential not including a certificate; receiving a second credential from the second subscriber, the second credential not including a certificate; receiving a first device and a first location for the first subscriber; receiving a second device and a second location for the second subscriber; authenticating the first subscriber using the first credential, first device, and first location; authenticating the second subscriber using the second credential, second device, and second location; and providing the first subscriber and the second subscriber with a receipt, the receipt identifying the first subscriber and the second subscriber without providing personally identifiable information about the first subscriber and the second subscriber and using metadata and pseudo data for authentication so that the server does not know the true identities of the subscribers contained in the first storage and second storage.

18. A method according to claim 17 , further comprising providing the first subscriber and the second subscriber with a communications channel.

19. A method according to claim 17 , wherein authenticating the first subscriber further includes: performing an out-of-band authentication of the first subscriber if the device or location is not recognized by the server; and automatically updating the server to recognize the device at the location for the first credential if the out-of-band authentication is successful.

20. A method according to claim 17 , wherein authenticating the first subscriber further includes setting a state of the first credential to “in use”.

21. A method according to claim 20 , further comprising setting the state of the first credential to “not in use” after a period of time.

22. A method according to claim 20 , further comprising setting the state of the first credential to “not in use” responsive to completing the transaction.

23. A method according to claim 17 , wherein authenticating the first subscriber further includes verifying that a state of the first credential is “not in use”.

24. A method according to claim 17 , wherein registering the first subscriber includes: storing data for the first subscriber in a storage selected by the first subscriber; encrypting the data stored in the storage using a key; and dividing the key among at least the storage and the server.

25. A method according to claim 24 , wherein dividing the key includes dividing the key among at least the storage, the server, and a trusted third party, where the storage is managed by a first party, the server is managed by a second party, and the first party, the second party, and the trusted third party are all different from each other.

26. A method according to claim 24 , further comprising providing the part of the key stored at the server to the storage responsive to a request from the first subscriber.

27. A method according to claim 26 , wherein providing the part of the key stored at the server includes transmitting the part of the key stored at the server in a second receipt.

28. A method according to claim 17 , wherein providing the first subscriber and the second subscriber with a receipt includes providing at least one additional party to the transaction with the receipt.

29. A method for releasing encrypted personally identifiable information stored in a storage provider that performs proxy authentication between subscribers in a transaction, comprising: receiving a receipt that identifies a first subscriber and a second subscriber from a server, the receipt generated using metadata and pseudo data for authentication so that the server does not know the true identity of the subscribers; receiving a first portion of the key from the server; accessing a second portion of the key from the storage provider; assembling the key from at least the first portion and the second portion; decrypting the personally identifiable information; generating a new key based in part on the receipt from the server and in part on other data; re-encrypting the personally identifiable information using the new key; transmitting the re-encrypted personally identifiable information to a requester; and transmitting the other data used in generating the new key to the requester.

30. A method according to claim 29 , wherein: receiving a receipt of identity includes receiving the receipt of identity from the server over a secure channel; and receiving a first portion of the key includes receiving the first portion of the key from the server over the secure channel.

31. A method according to claim 29 , wherein: transmitting the re-encrypted personally identifiable information to a requester includes transmitting the re-encrypted personally identifiable information to the requester over a secure channel; and transmitting the other data used in generating the new key includes transmitting the other data used in generating the new key to the requester over the secure channel.

32. A method according to claim 29 , wherein: the method further comprises receiving a third portion of the key from a trusted third party; and assembling the key includes assembling the key from the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion.